


Human

by fireflyangelxx



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 15:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflyangelxx/pseuds/fireflyangelxx
Summary: a Malec fic set in Thule.has Queen of Air and Darkness spoilers!





	Human

The war had been raging for three months now.

There hadn’t been a moment’s rest since Sebastian slew Clary on the battlefield. Alec was either out in the streets or he was in the makeshift headquarters trying to get enough rest for the next day. There was no reprieve from this war.

“Alec,” someone caught his arm as he stormed into the building. He tensed but then relaxed when he started into Magnus’s cat eyes. “You need proper rest.” The warlock murmured, his thumb brushing across Alec’s hand. He fought the urge to shudder as desire coursed through his body. But now wasn’t the time for him to be enjoying simple pleasures.

His parabatai was under the thrall of Sebastian and one of his best friends was dead. Who was he, to take time off to lose himself in the man he loved?

“I’m getting rest,” he tried to shake Magnus off but the warlock was insistent. “But I need to be out there in a few hours.”

“Simon and Isabelle are out there right now.” Magnus reminded his boyfriend. “You’ll do no one any good if you don’t sleep. You’ve barely stepped in this house, Alexander.”

Alec scowled. He knew Magnus was right but he couldn’t help but think he had to be out there. Simon was barely functioning as it was with the change in the sunlight in Thule. Most vampires were faring well due to the change in the sun, making it so they were no longer affected during the daytime. Because of this, too many vampires decided to side with Sebastian.

But Simon, being a Daylighter, was feeling side effects of the new sun. Like all Nephilim or those with the Angel’s blood, Simon was growing sicker and sicker from Lilith’s draining. Already, seraph blades and runes didn’t work. Alec didn’t want to know if eventually, demons would be able to drain the life of Shadowhunters without any effort at all.

After Clary had died, Simon had spent two weeks out fighting before Isabelle had finally dragged him back and forced him to rest. Alec could only imagine how Jace would have felt if he had been himself and not controlled by Sebastian.

Isabelle wasn’t much better. She was distraught about the loss of both Jace and Clary. But Alec knew she was grateful she still had Simon. And if Alec was being honest, he was eternally grateful that he still had Magnus at his side.

Warlocks’ magic wasn’t affected by Lilith’s control--only because warlocks were the children of demons. But Alec had noticed that Magnus’s powers had gotten weaker as the days went on due to the large amounts of time he spent outside as well.

“Please,” Magnus said, when Alec didn’t say anything, “do it for me. I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt.”

Alec closed his eyes and gave a small sigh. “Jace is out there,” he said, but there wasn’t much fight in his voice. He knew his own limits; the lack of runes was making it harder and harder for him to fight.

“I know,” there was pain in Magnus’s voice too. Alec knew the warlock would not mourn Jace as much as he did, but he also knew Magnus was aching from the loss of Clary. “But you are mortal, Alexander. You do not have runes to help sustain you in battle.”

Alec opened his eyes and found Magnus’s cat eyes pinned on him. Alec lacked words to express how he felt so he drew Magnus in and kissed him lightly on the lips. His lips were soft and tasted of sugar, as they often did. Alec fought the urge to sigh again and found that he wanted to cry instead. But he forced himself to separate from Magnus.

It was then he noticed how fatigued Magnus looked. “Hey,” he grabbed his boyfriend’s arm, “what’s wrong?”

“What?” Magnus blinked a few times before managing a half-smile at Alec. “Nothing is wrong. Well, besides from the world ending outside of course.”

“Funny,” Alec deadpanned, “you look worse than me, Magnus. Have _you_ been resting?”

Magnus batted his eyelashes at Alec. “Is that an invitation to bed?”

Alec didn’t laugh. He didn’t feel a flicker of amusement as a wave of panic began to wash over him. Magnus’s eyes were sunken and his face was gaunt and hollow. His hair, normally spiky and full of gel, was limp and almost looked drab. Since Alec had met Magnus, the warlock had never looked more defeated than he had in this moment.

“Seriously,” he gripped Magnus’s arm harder. “Something’s wrong. Are you hurt?”

He ran an eye over Magnus’s rumpled clothes but couldn’t see any blood on him. Magnus swayed in his grip and Alec caught him as he nearly fell over. He gently eased him onto the couch and stared at his boyfriend. Dread pooled in his stomach and he had to fight the urge to vomit on the floor. “Tell me what’s wrong.” He whispered.

Magnus’s eyes fluttered. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” he finally said, “I’m tiring much quicker than I imagined I would. My magic isn’t supposed to be affected because I do not have the Angel’s blood in my body. Yet I find myself unable to wield magic as well as before.”

“You look ill.” Alec said, even though disbelief colored his voice. Warlocks didn’t get sick.

Magnus was thinking the same thing. “Impossible. I’ve lived for over five hundred centuries and never once have I been sick. I’m just stressed and tired.”

Alec wasn’t convinced. “You need to rest too,” he decided, “we can go to bed together.”

This time, Magnus made no suggestive comment and Alec felt even more uneasy. Magnus, as he once explained in Paris, joked about everything. Alec helped him off the couch and led him to their shared bedroom.

The moment he lay Magnus down on the bed, the warlock was fast asleep. Alec felt a pain in his heart as he stared at his boyfriend and then shed his jacket before laying down next to him. He pulled Magnus close to him and breathed his scent in, falling asleep to the comfort of being in Magnus’s arms.

***

It would be another week until Alec found out what was really happening to Magnus. The first to go was a warlock called Hypatia Vex. Alec had never met her, but Magnus remembered her from the Los Angeles Shadow Market.

“What?” Alec paled. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“I never joke,” Isabelle said, looking as horrified as Alec felt. “Hypatia turned into a snake.”

“A snake demon,” Simon added, “wasn’t just any old snake.”

Alec shook his head, troubled by this news. “No warlock has ever turned into a demon before.” Alec said, “Especially not of their own free will.”

“Correct,” Magnus said from behind him, “but I’ve seen it happen to a Shadowhunter before. But that was because he dallied with female demons and was infected. Are you sure a spell wasn’t cast against Hypatia?”

“Certain,” Isabelle shook her head, “Hypatia was ill the entire week before she turned. No enemy warlock or faerie was near her when she turned.”

Alec glanced back to judge Magnus’s reaction and felt a lurch in his stomach when he saw the unguarded fear in Magnus’s eyes. “Magnus?” He walked quickly towards his boyfriend. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a blight,” Magnus murmured, “a blight on the warlocks. It’s draining us of our magic and then turning us into what we would have been without our human or other heritage.”

“Magnus--”

“Oh Alexander,” Magnus turned his cat eyes to him and Alec took a step back from the sadness in his gaze. “It never would have ended well for you and me.”

“Wh-What are you talking about?” Alec stumbled towards the warlock, holding his hands out in front of him like a child. “Magnus, do you need--”

“Alec,” Isabelle said from the doorway. “Magnus is trying to tell you that Hypatia was the first.”

Alec turned and stared at his sister. She looked like she always did, battle ready and hard, but he also saw a shadow of fear and dread in her eyes. And sorrow. “The first of what?” Alec asked, even though he thought he knew the answer.

“The first to turn,” Magnus said and Alec whipped his head back around to stare at the warlock. Magnus didn’t offer any more words and Alec felt his mouth go dry.

“No,” he protested, “ _no_. It won’t happen to you, Magnus, I know you’re thinking it. We’ll find a way to stop this.”

“What if there isn’t a way?” Magnus heaved a great sigh.

Alec lurched forward and grabbed his hands. “We’ll _find a way._ I won’t let you turn into a demon, Magnus, I won’t.”

Magnus’s gaze was heavy and he cupped a hand around Magnus’s cheek. “You a bright star,” he murmured, and Alec felt something break inside of him.

The idea of losing Magnus was too much. He would not consider it.

***

Two weeks.

That was the allotted time Raziel had given Alec. Or he supposed, Lilith, since it seemed she was in charge of their world. Other warlocks had fallen and the Shadowhunters’ last line of defense was weakening. Catarina Loss had fled and other powerful warlocks were losing their ability to hold on to their sanity.

And Magnus, brave Magnus, fought at Alec’s side each time he went out. And each time, he would come back worse and worse.

Alec slashed with his sword and gritted his teeth. He had run out of arrows a week ago and didn’t know how he would restock it this time. He hated fighting hand-to-hand--that was always Jace’s speciality--but he had no choice. Beside him, Magnus shot blue sparks at his opponents, paralyzing them for Alec to kill.

Suddenly, Magnus doubled over.

“Magnus!” Alec sliced another demon in half and whirled around. “Are you--?”

He froze when he saw Magnus crumpled on the form, spasming. “Magnus?”

The warlock looked up at him, the black of his pupil dilating and becoming wider and wider. The black began to swallow the yellow of his eyes. “Alexander--” He gasped, “I-It’s happening.”

 _No._ Alec stared and stared at his boyfriend. These two weeks he fought against the possibility that Magnus was ill. Being a son of a Greater Demon, Magnus had lasted longer than most. And Alec wanted to keep believing that he would keep surviving.

“Alec,” Magnus was speaking again, his body shaking, “you need to kill me.”

“W-What?” Alec choked on his horror. “I can’t.”

“You promised,” Magnus’s eyes burned with unholy magic. “You said you wouldn’t let me turn. I don’t want to become a demon, Alexander, and I certainly don’t want to become something Sebastian will use to kill all of you. I will not be the cause of your deaths. Kill me, before I become something else.”

“Don’t ask this of me,” Alec whispered, tears making it hard for him to see. He didn’t think he had ever cried this openly before. 

Magnus somehow found the strength to grip Alec’s left hand. “Please, Alec. I need you.”

Alec couldn’t believe the unfairness of the situation. He had lost Jace, his parabatai. He had lost Clary, one of his best friends. His sister was somewhere out there, fighting for her life. And he had already lost his brother in the Mortal War.

It wasn’t fair to take away the man he loved.

“Magnus--” Alec couldn’t find the words to finish his sentence. He leaned forward and kissed Magnus hard on the mouth.

“Please,” Magnus groaned when they broke apart. “Do it for me.”

Those words before, had gotten Alec to rest when he didn’t want to. Alec would do anything for Magnus. And he knew, more than anything else, that Magnus would never forgive him if he allowed him to turn.

Slowly, he raised his right arm. He looked the warlock in the eye and saw the defiance and love in his boyfriend’s face. “I’ll find you again,” Magnus said, “I promise.”

Alec was crying now. “I love you,” he said, “I love you.”

He plunged the sword deep into Magnus’s chest. He gripped Magnus’s hand hard, and willed him to stay human. “I love you,” he repeated, even as Magnus fought to draw another breath. “By the Angel, I love you so much.”

When Magnus stilled, Alec felt empty. He knew Isabelle was still out there, fighting for their freedom, but Alec couldn’t bring himself to care. He barely heard the noise of the people fighting around him. All he could focus on was how lifeless Magnus was. How child like he looked in death, broken and limp like a ragdoll.

In that moment, Alec knew that he would not be able to live without Magnus shining in his life. There was simply nothing for him but the promise that he would see Magnus in the next life or whatever came after.

Alec pulled his sword free from Magnus’s chest and in one swift motion, he put it through his own heart.

His last thought as he crumpled to the ground next to Magnus was that at least this way, in death, both of them remained human.


End file.
